All posts tagged: soup

Delicious Vietnam: Eating In The Old Quarter, Hanoi

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Before our epic SE Asia holiday, I had read a few  blogs to inspire my appetite. One of the best was A Food Lover’s Journey by Ahn in Melbourne. Mouthwatering and easily relatable, Ahn is a Vietnamese expat and reading her blog is enough to make anyone crave Vietnamese food. The monthly Delicious Vietnam blogging event conspired by A Food Lover’s Journey and Ravenous Couple was never something I thought I would participate in. When I saw their reminder this month, I realised that it was just about time I wrote about Vietnamese food and our time in Hanoi. Vietnamese food in Auckland There is a lack of Vietnamese restaurants in Auckland, but one of my favourites is Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant. One of those places with cheap, fresh and delicious food, but severely no frills service, my review can be found here. The other Vietnamese place worth mentioning in Auckland is Banh Mi. Who do great filled rolls and all the classic Vietnamese dishes as well. Anticipation “”Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best — ” …

Red Pepper Soup

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After I read Millie’s Red Bell Pepper Bisque recipe in her blog Millie Mirepoix this week, I went straight to the local Chinese market after work, bought 4 red peppers and whipped up something similar. I read overseas blogs, but reading NZ blogs is more relevant when we cook seasonally with seasonal produce. I also made some rosemary and celery scones. Served hot and buttered they filled us right up. I love that soup is so forgiving and experimentation usually leads to wonderful things. Millie Mirepoix’s Recipe is here: My changes were: 1 heaped teaspoon of green curry paste instead of cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon instead of chicken stock No crème fraîche 2 carrots instead of 1 2 celery stalks instead of 2 This soup is surprisingly filling and I only needed a cup worth and a scone the next day for lunch. Curses to the tupperware container that was not leak proof! Thank goodness I always plastic bag stuff before it goes into my handbag. Tofu the rabbit very much liked …

Eat Your Greens! (With Bacon)

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We did a little shop the other day. The first shop in over 2 months meant that we got a few essentials. From these things I was able to pick out an easy soup to make. Pretty standard, so maybe you already have these ingredients in your kitchen too. Soup isn’t the kind of thing most of us make on a summer afternoon, but this will fill you up without making you feel heavy. Tasty enough to serve to company as a starter.   Easy Green and Bacon Soup Serves 2 Ingredients 2 medium potatoes 1 cup of frozen peas half an onion 2 pieces of streaky bacon Salt Lemon pepper Dash of cream Preparation In a pot, boil a litre of water. Peel and chop potatoes and add to pot. Slice onion and add to the pot. Boil for 20 minutes. Chop bacon into matchsticks and fry until done. Add frozen peas to the boiling pot and bring up to boil. Drain out most of the boiling water (leaving behind a small amount) and blend …

Vegetarian superfoods dinner

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A 2 course vegetarian meal with superfood. Quinoa (keen-wah) is a South American seed and “The Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or mother of all grains”. You eat this, you can carry llamas and build civilisations at high altitudes*. Broccoli is awesome too. I’m pretty sure that if you eat broccoli you can move small hills and clear forests with your bare hands*. Quinoa salad with balsamic mushrooms and red onion. Brocolli soup served with buttered toast (not pictured). * Disclaimer. I’ve never actually done these things, but I have a vivid imagination.

Inspired by Noodle Pillows

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Reading a book about Vietnamese food and travel inspired me to make this chicken noodle soup. No recipe, I just made it up as I went along, so no claims on authenticity here! Vietnamese food to me, is really fresh, simple ingredients that enhance their flavours. Vietnamese food is highly underrated here in New Zealand. Hardly anyone talks about Vietnamese cuisine. I guess because it doesn’t have the hot, bright, bold or loud cuisine of Thailand or India, or the elegant, regimented cuisine of Japan, so it gets forgotten about. Chinese cuisine is pretty big here though, so maybe it’s simply been overlooked because it’s fairly similar to Chinese cooking? Vietnamese cuisine the kind of thing I can eat very often. The food is balanced and light. There is a strong Cantonese influence as well as a French influence on Vietnamese cuisine. It’s like someone grabbed two of the world’s culinary giants and married them up. Herbs help make everything fresh tasting and you are encouraged to interact with your food, adding each ingredient to …

Magical Elixir

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I was recently watching Nici Wicke’s World Kitchen, specifically the Hong Kong episode. I was born in Hong Kong and it will always have a special place in my heart. In this episode, while sipping on snake soup, Nici and her Hong Kong guide Denny, talk about soup. In Western society, soup is often eaten when we are sick. Chicken soup is consciously or subconciously considered to a magical elixir that will cure what ails you. Soup is nourishing and easy to digest. In Chinese society, a nourishing soup is served with dinner to prevent sickness. Take a magical elixir every day for good health. How cool is that? I grew up with soup as a course before dinner. Chinese soup is a savoury broth and light enough to have before every meal. Meats like pork or chicken are boiled with various dried roots, vegetables, dried fruits and even nuts. It’s an important aspect of every Chinese dinner. We were often encouraged to have a second bowl of soup after our meal too. I serve soup …